NHL Playoffs: Eastern Conference final preview

Star hockey writer Kevin McGran sets up the East final between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils

Brad Richards lead the New York Rangers in scoring in the post-season.

By:Kevin McGranSports Reporter, Published on Sun May 13 2012

Matchup: No. 1 New York Rangers vs. No. 6 New Jersey Devils

Game 1: Monday, 8 p.m., CBC

Season Series: Rangers, 3-2-1

Rangers win if:Brad Richards continues to build on his Big-Time reputation. Richards has taken this team on his shoulders, leading the Rangers in scoring in the playoffs. That’s a good thing because the Rangers have trouble scoring. Carl Hagelin — the first line left winger — hasn’t scored in the post-season and Marian Gaborik went a stretch of eight games without a goal. . . The Rangers in fact have only 29 goals in 14 games. That’s a lot of 2-1 wins. But that may be enough with Henrik Lundvqist in net and his puny 1.68 GAA and .937 save percentage. . . The Rangers need more from their supporting cast. Brian Boyle has gone quiet after scoring three goals in the first round. Rookie sensation Chris Kreider has seen his minutes diminish. Derek Stepan (1G, 7A) and Artim Anisimov (2G, 4A) have also been too quiet. . . Michael Del Zotto is having an excellent post-season, with two goals and six assists, to lead all defencemen in points.

Devils win if:Ilya Kovalhcuk continues to evolve into Mr. May. Kovalchuk led the Devils against the Flyers with two goals and five assists and has five goals and seven assists in the playoffs. Thos stats are surprising to some because he entered this post-season with more penalty minutes (25) than points (eight) in nine previous playoffs games. Kovalchuk continues to be among the leaders for active forwards in average time on ice (24:13). . . Martin Brodeur, meanwhile, continues to be an ageless wonder. He has a 2.05 GAA and .920 save percentage, which is actually the weakest among the four surviving starting goalies. The season against the Rangers he was 2-1-0 with a 2.30 GAA and .903 save percentage.

Essential Stats: No team has ever won the Stanley Cup after going to the maximum seven games in the first two rounds, which is bad news for the Rangers. . . Rangers top three defencemen — Dan Girardi (387 minutes nine seconds for an average of 27:39 per game), Ryan McDonagh (384.20, 27:27) and Marc Staal (356.23, 25:27) have played more hockey than anyone in the playoffs. . . Devils are the worst team off the draw, with a 46.3 faceoff win percentage, but the Rangers are the second worst at 47.6 per cent. . . The Devils have 36 goals in 12 games and are — believe it or not — the top-scoring team from the regular season still active in the playoffs. . . Devils lead the playoffs with 24 goals in 5-on-5 situations while allowing only 13 5-on-5, the biggest differential in the playoffs. . . The Devils are third on the power play with a 20.5 per cent success rate (best among the surviving teams). . . Perhaps their offence comes from all the shots they get through, 32.3 a game. They also only allow 27.4 shots against per game. . . The Devils penalty kill is a weakness, at .73.9 per cent efficiency, the worst among the remaining teams. . . The Devils don’t block shots. They’ve blocked just 131 shots over two rounds, less than half the Rangers 267. . . The Rangers power play (15.8 per cent) and penalty kill (82.6) have them in the middle of the pack in the playoffs. . . The Devils don’t get much offence from defence, with Bryce Salvador (2G, 4A) and Marek Zidicky (1G, 5A) leading the way in that regard.

Edge: Rangers in 7

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